In My Home This Week: What Will February Bring?

 

In my home this week, I am hoping for a better week than last.  For one thing, I am not as ill as I was, neither physically nor temperamentally.  I recognize quite well all the signs of symptoms of an out of balance life once more.  Because we've been ill so much, we've been home for weeks on end with just necessary excursions and no others.  The schedule change for the current training stage of Kate's job has meant missing some activities I'd have liked to participate in and regret missing.  Never mind that I quite reasonably have not been fit to go out in public!  I wanted to go to these things all the same!    The few days we've been well enough to go anywhere, the weather has been miserably cold and not at all conducive to leaving home.  

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Fresh Winds

 

Saturday:  I was happy to come into the weekend.  Yesterday I'd told John our plans for the day.  We were to go buy pet foods, bird seed and pick up the sales items at Publix as well as some Gramma's Fried Chicken for Sunday dinner.  I suggested it would be nice to go out to breakfast.

I rose a little later than planned this morning after a restless night.  I think I pulled a muscle in my back yesterday in lifting Caleb and it kept spasming in a sort of painful way that wasn't all that painful but was uncomfortable.  Hence, I slept a wee bit later than planned.

Coffee Chat: Fresh Air and Sunshine

 

Hello dears.  Come on in and let's have a lovely chat.   There's coffee or tea and a variety of both to choose from.  Help yourself and have a seat with me here.

I think that these past two months have been a needed break for me overall.  In December I was caught up in the holiday doings that distract us from the day-to-day routine things.   And then in January we began the month sick, and I pretty much laid everything aside and just concentrated on resting and healing.  

I'm feeling the pay off this week in a surge of energy.  Along with that energy has come a surge of ideas for the blog and life in general that have me excited.  I'm just brimming with thoughts and ideas to share! 

Worth Sharing: All That Glitters

 

                                            A frosty morning here on the hill a few years ago

This morning, our world was as near a 'winter wonderland' as it comes in winter for us here in Georgia.  We seldom get snow, but we do get frost.  It's been a few years since we've had more than just the usual frosty mornings.  This morning, we had hoar frost on every branch, twig, leaf and surface.  The sun shone bright and cold, but it didn't melt the frost in the least until well after 10am.  It could still be seen in shaded areas.

I was enchanted.  Every leaf was set to sparkling like glitter in the morning sun and it was all a dense and lovely bright white.  The most ordinary things took on a beauty in their icy casing that they'd lacked in their drab winter wear.  It was all so beautiful.  The weeds in the overgrown fields, the bare tree branches, the last leaf hanging upon the rose bush all looked like something from a fairy world.

In My Home This Week: A Fresh Start Here At the End

 

                                                                    The Newberry

This house plan was included on the same page as last week's "The Nugget".  It's slightly larger than The Nugget, but definitely still has that cottage appeal.  To see the floor plan based on the aspect of the house in the picture, you'll need to read it from the right side.  The porch is forward in the plan, you see.

The house seems well laid out overall and it has a touch of that English Tudor look about it, no doubt because it has that prominent gable right over the front.  The rooms appear to be a good size, at least the main rooms and the master bedroom.  The smaller bedroom is 10x8 and I realize that's not so big, but since it's also about the size of my shed, I know that it could be a perfect bedroom for a child or study for the homeowner.

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Begin As I Mean To Go On

 

Saturday:  A quiet day.   No great ambitions for a Sabbath and that suited me.  I did long to see the children across the field though.  Since we were planning to run into town to the dollar store to pick up cheese for pizza, I called ahead and asked if we could run by to see the children.  Millie was so happy to see us and kept walking around the room giving us hugs.   Josh, who is getting taller and lankier than ever, occupied himself in his room but Millie and Isaac entertained us.   

I took along a couple of craft kits I'd gotten on sale late last year, thinking of the boys.   I figured about now the parents would appreciate anything simple and new that the kids might have to occupy themselves.  I carried along bird seed with me, too.  I'd just refilled my own feeders.   The birds have been heavily flocked about them. I get so much pleasure from watching the birds.  The boys' feeders are hung in trees that they can see both from the living room and their bedroom.

This Week In My Home: Normal?

 

The Nugget

This neat little cottage might well qualify for a 'tiny house' today.  It's just one bedroom but what a sweet little place it is.  I like that the bedroom is off to itself, and a sort of corridor/hall connects the dining room and kitchen on the opposite side.  

The house has a generous looking front porch, too, something I do admire in any home.   One could easily have a swing or a couple of rockers here or a sweet little wicker settee.  The off-center front door would allow plenty of room for that.

Diary of A Homemaker's Week: Recovery Mode

Tuesday:  Saturday was a very difficult day.  Sunday, I felt well enough to get a couple hours of picking up house done.  John vacuumed floors and did laundry.  Between us the house looked presentable once more.  It did more for my mental health than anything else could have done.

I sat down to pay our bills, anticipating that later this week when our pay is in that Caleb would be here and I'd be unable to concentrate.   I had forgotten over the past week or so that we'd need to pay both our house insurance and car insurance.   Another big chunk from the bank account.   I'm happy we have that money set aside ahead and a little over, but it does make the tummy sink a bit after paying out a big chunk to turn around and pay out another.   Never mind.  Needs must and all that good stuff.

The Week Ahead: Tired and Weary and Far Behind

 

I made it through Friday and felt I could manage just fine with the Sabbath rest, but I find I am in need of Taking Care of ME, something I'd vowed to do this year as part of my resolution.  Number one because my personal attitude dives downward, and I quickly blame everyone and everything that looks my way as being part of the problems I am experiencing.  Number two because I don't feel good darn it and I am tired of just pushing through.

So, for this week ahead, I'm not going to worry about what needs to be done.  I've said before, and I tell you it is so very true, never in my life has a messy house gotten up and cleaned itself nor left in a fit of pique because I didn't get it cleaned.

Diary of a Homemaker's Week: A Short Version

Thursday:  I was sitting here typing a few minutes ago, adding to the other posts of the week when my whole screen went blank.  Control Z pressed several times over only netted me a line of z's across the screen.  All this week's work was lost.

So, in a synopsis I'll share what I did without being too long winded about it. 

Monday:  John still not feeling well.  Katie has been under the weather for a week.  Her tests reveal an old auto immune illness has reared its nasty head.   Caleb was running a low fever and didn't act as though he felt very well.  

I felt fine and used my energy to prep meals ahead for the week.  Glad I did.  By evening, I'd succumbed to a bit of the current plague myself.

Diary of a Homemaker: Begin Anew

 

Saturday:  Last year I shared a quote from Faith Baldwin about the New Year having 12 rooms, all freshly cleaned, polished, decluttered and ready for the flowers of the New Year.  I think that idea is worth sharing again because the imagery of that quote appeals to me strongly.  

I had gone further and said I liked to think of the New Year as unfurnished rooms and how much I hoped to fill them with beautiful things.  I failed to do that.  In fact, though I don't choose an annual word to live by, the word beauty came up again and again in my life and my final lesson of the year was that no matter what my circumstances might be, or how far from my own plan my life had gone, beauty was there for the making even out of the harsher things.  

In the Week Ahead: Brand Spanking New Year

This house is called "The Hepburn".  I chose it for the somewhat Tudor cottage appeal of the exterior.  I'm rather fond of that house style from the 1920's and '30's.  I clove the diamond pane windows which remind me of the diamond pane windows that Cornelia puts in either side of her fireplace addition to the family home in Grace Livingston Hill's book Re-Creations.   I've always said the homemaking books (literally making a home) are my most favorite among that author's works.  

You can see the size of the house is fairly modest with just living room, dining room, breakfast nook and kitchen downstairs and two beds and a bath upstairs.  It's worth opening the image and magnifying to read how 'modern' the house is with a mail slot at the front door, a proper working fireplace (it says equipment but never having had a fireplace I've no clue what they mean), a tub-shower combination in the bathroom upstairs and the kitchen has an electric fridge, gas stove and a cabinet (oh my!  "What storage!", she says as she contemplates the vast amount of space in her own kitchen and the constant wailing about lack of space...)  

A Late Afternoon Iced Drink Chat: Final Farewell to 2021

I'll be brief since we shall be having Shabat candle lighting in about 30 minutes, but I so wanted to get in one chatty post this month and this is my last chance!

First of all, Happy New Year to you all.

Why an iced drink chat?  Honey, it is hot out there! 82f with lots of humidity and heaviness.  We've had sunshine and clear skies today, but it has been clouded and sullen for a week.   We had thunderstorms yesterday, and a nearer acquaintance had tornado watches in her area just north of us.  There's more such weather in our forecast for the next week with one really cold day tossed in to throw us off track.